The word ‘Yoga’ reminds many people of a person wearing saffron clothes and doing dhyana at some secluded place. But we claim that this belief is in actuality an erroneous one, and that Yoga has relevance even to a modern-day working man. Yoga is very important for each and every person, from a child to an aged one. Yoga not only keeps one fit but also cures many diseases.
ayurveda-yoga-treatment-in-durban-south-africaYoga entered the West mainly through the missionary work of Swami Vivekananda, who spoke at the Parliament of Religions in 1893. Since then Yoga has undergone a unique metamorphosis. Unfortunately, yoga in the west has come to mean “hatha” yoga which is mainly physical exercise and postures (asanas). In fact, asanas is only one step in the eight step path (Ashtanga yoga of patanjali). Yoga has been tailored to suit the specific needs of their countrymen and -women. Thus, by and large, Yoga has been secularized and turned from a rigorous spiritual discipline into an “instant” fitness system. What is the real goal of Yoga ?
Yoga’s highest purpose is to help it’s practitioner in realizing true happiness, freedom, or enlightenment.
However, Yoga has a number of secondary goals, such as physical health, mental harmony, and emotional balance. In its most integrated form, Yoga seeks to unlock our full human potential.
Benefits of practicing yoga:-
- Physical fitness: People view Yoga only as a curing therapy, but in reality involvement in Yoga will ward off any disease and keep oneself fighting fit
- Personality Development: by performing Yoga one can attain peace of mind, boost self-confidence, and gain more energy for work.
- Freedom from Habits: Many people want to give up habits like smoking, drinking etc. but they are unable to do so. Practising Yoga helps to get rid of all these habits.
- Stress relief: Today you can hear words like Stress, Tension from everybody, from youth to an aged person. Everybody has his own tensions of work. We advice to go for Yoga and get relief from stress.
- Competition: There is a lot of competition in the education life of every student now a day. Yoga works there too. After performing even some basics of Yoga like ‘Omkar ‘, any student can feel the improvement in his concentration as well as in his inherent ability to memorize. Thus Yoga helps them a lot.
Different types of yoga.
There are various types of yoga. Before we examine the differences, we should Remember that all of them lead to the same goal, unification with the Divine.
The yoga paths can be broadly classified into :-
- Bhakti yoga (“Yoga of Devotion”) is the path of devotion (to the Divine). It is pure selfless love from the heart. A bhakti yogi feels that whenever he thinks of God, God thinks more of him. A relationship between a Bhakta and God can never be described in words.
- Karma yoga (“Yoga of Action”) is the path of selfless service. For a karma yogi, the activities of human life is a God given opportunity to serve Him. He does not feel that the world is an illusion, does not encounter the ego given ‘highs’ of success or the ‘lows’ of failure. Thus a karma yogi is detached while carrying out his duties on the earth. Karma Yoga can also be summed up in a statement by Sri Bhagavan Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita: “Worshipping Him with proper actions, a man attains realization”. One key to Karma Yoga is the performance of right action and service for its own sake, without consideration of the immediate or apparent results.
- Dnyana yoga (“Yoga of Wisdom”) is the path of knowledge. A dnyana yogi wants to understand the transcendental truth. He wants to solve the mystery of birth, death and the purpose of life. Hindu scriptures describe a Dnyan yogi as one who utters Neti, Neti meaning ‘not this, not this’ to differentiate between what is permanent and impermanent. He uses viveka (discernment) for moving on from avidya (ignorance) to vidya (knowledge). He discerns that the world as perceived by the senses is not real, but an illusion conjured up by the mind. Dnyana Yoga is the yoga of the philosopher and thinker who wants to go beyond the visible, material reality. The Dnyan Yogi finds God through knowledge. Dnyana Yoga is summed up in the Upanishads by the following statement: “In the method of reintegration through knowledge, the mind is ever bound to the ultimate end of existence which is liberation This method leads to all attainments and is ever auspicious.”
- Raja yoga (“Royal Yoga”) is a science. There is no unconditional faith required. It is similar to a person who would go to the doctor for illness, and take the medicine the doctor gives with a faith that it will cure him. If he followed all the doctor’s orders but still wasn’t cured then it is the fault of the doctor and not that of the patient.
- Kundalini yoga : Most of the saints have agreed that the culmination of the Kundalini Shakti is essential for enlightenment. Various types of raja yogas (including siddha yoga, kriya yoga, laya yoga, sahaja yoga etc.) end with the activation and culmination of the kundalini shakti at the crown chakra. They may be referred to as Kundalini yoga. Kundalini is the dormant energy which lies at the base of spine.